Some voices never really shut up. That of Rolland Courbis died this Monday, at the age of 72, but it will continue to float in the collective memory of French football for a long time. A deep voice, recognizable among a thousand, a southern banter mixed with popular wisdom, mischief and sincere enthusiasm. A voice that told the story of the game as life is told: with detours, outbursts, sometimes excesses, always authenticity.
With him disappears much more than a coach or a consultant’s voice: it is a way of being, a way of speaking about the game and people, an accent of truth which is lost. His death occurs less than three weeks after that of Jean-Louis Gasset, on December 26. An almost symbolic proximity, as their professional and human lives were intertwined even if the two technicians never worked together.
